It has been a source of ongoing sadness to read of the difficulties Lauren Richardson’s father has had over the course of the past several months. For those of you who are not familiar with her case, Lauren overdosed on heroin on August 28, 2006. She suffered oxygen deprivation and, as a result of the overdose, is now in a coma and unable to speak out for herself. At the time of the overdose, Lauren was expecting a baby. Her parents honored what they knew would have been her wish and did all they could to keep her healthy and comfortable until the child was born. Today, though Lauren may not be aware of it, she is the mother of Ember Grace, who was born in February 2007.

Since the birth of her daughter, Lauren remains unable to speak of her concerns, but she has a loving father who is doing all he can to protect her from suffering the same fate as Terri Schiavo. However, Lauren’s mother, who has been named her legal guardian, is sadly not of the same opinion and is working with attorneys to pressure the courts to permit Lauren’s starvation.

Lauren’s father has kept hope alive, even at times when there appeared to be no hope in human terms. Lauren’s father is a man of hope in Christ and is dedicated to spending every breath he has on defending Lauren, regardless of what it might cost him in physical exhaustion and worldly goods. The most recent update for those concerned about Lauren tells us the following:

We struggle at times as we seek to share with the public the details of what is happening with Lauren because of the disagreement we have with Lauren’s mother. We cannot understand her reasoning in refusing a path of hope, healing and restoration for Lauren and insisting on causing her death by withholding food and water from her. The issue in Lauren’s case is the eternal truth that all people, no matter what their medical condition, bear the image of God and deserve basic care and an opportunity to be restored to health.

Bobby Schindler, Terri Schiavo’s brother, has written about Lauren in an editorial earlier this year, "False Compassion," and is working closely with Lauren’s father in order to provide expertise that he is uniquely qualified to share during a trying time like this.

There are many links on the Life for Lauren web site that will assist you in tracking this case and learning who is supporting Lauren’s ongoing care and who is opposing it. More importantly, there is something you can do to express your concerns.

ACTION NEEDED NOW

The governor of Delaware, Ruth Ann Minner, is being asked by pro-life Americans across this nation to intervene in this case in order to save Lauren from what many fear is an imminent court order dictating that Lauren be starved and dehydrated to death. I am asking you to be one of those who communicates your passionate belief that Lauren’s life is sacred and deserves to be protected from those who would order her death. The governor’s e-mail address is governor.minner@state.de.us.

Further, it would mean a great deal to Lauren’s father, Randy, if you sent him a copy of your e-mail to Governor Ruth Ann Minner. Randy’s e-mail address is Lifeforlauren@aol.com.

During a recent visit to Anchorage, Alaska where Bobby Schindler was invited to speak, he told a reporter from The Catholic Anchor, "Once we accept that killing is an acceptable answer to human suffering, we lose any type of parameters. Euthanasia is a form of abandonment. It is not compassion."

Truer words were never spoken. As I frequently tell people who argue that we pro-lifers are being heartless and cruel for fighting to defend the rights of a "hopeless case," "God is the author of every human being’s life, and He has never given permission to a single one of us to arbitrarily rob another human being of life for any reason including disability or illness."

As Flannery O’Connor once wrote on the subject of false compassion, "In the absence of faith, we govern by tenderness. And tenderness leads to the gas chamber."

Lauren Richardson is not terminal – she is severely disabled. Lauren Richardson should not be murdered.

Judie Brown is president of American Life League and a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

Democrats Kissling babies...Or why we persevere as the death camp marches ahead.

Thread by wagglebee on the embrace of the death dealers.

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NEW YORK, August 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-Abortion leader Francis Kissling has published an article acknowledging that the new Democratic Party platform favors the cause of abortion and sex education, even more so than in previous years.

Kissling notes that the new platform "derives its moral authority from 'a woman's right to choose safe and legal abortion'", unlike older ones that spoke merely of "privacy."

She is also delighted that the platform makes no mention of making abortion "rare", and for the first time mentions "sex education", which is frequently used to promote contraception, abortion, "alternative sexual lifestyles" and extra-marital sex.

"A notable omission is the Clintonian phrase 'safe, legal and rare,' replaced by a more honest and modest goal of reducing unintended pregnancy through better health care, family planning and comprehensive sex education. Sex education was not even mentioned in the old Platform," Kissling writes.

Kissling dismisses the claim recently made by some Obama supporters that the new platform has pro-life elements: "The progressive pro-life desire to see the Platform commit to reducing abortions was subtly undercut; this year, the Platform merely 'recognizes' that sex ed, family planning and good health care will have the effect of reducing the need for abortion."....................

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- One of the leading researchers into the aftereffects of abortion on women says he believes the chair of the American Psychological Association task force that issued a recent report saying abortion poses no mental health risks for women violated APA's own ethics rules.

Dr. David Reardon, the head of the Illinois-based Elliot Institute, says the report is tarnished by the fact that the lead author, Dr. Brenda Major, has violated the APA's own data sharing rules.

He tells LifeNews.com Major consistently refused to allow her own data on abortion and mental health effects to be reanalyzed by other researchers...........

When I rail against the Obama Nation of Islam, one can accuse me of exaggeration to make a point. If I suggest Barry whatever is responsible for killing babies, it is easy to imagine I am simply extrapolating his support for pro-choice just to an extreme. Here from Professor Pope's blog on Medical Futility we hear a colder story embraced in facts, with testimony from Jill Stanek to drive home the reality. When I call this evil person a Stalinist or Marxist, likewise I may be accused of exaggerating to make a point, but it is simple, really.

Know how a Stalinist/Marxist would behave or react to a situation and you can predict the behavior of this puppet of the devil.

Professor Pope links us to a YouTube on Barack and babies marked for death. If elected President, this critter would not dirty his own hands or stain his suit but would turn thumbs down in a heartless gesture to all such victims, to all the Terri Schiavo's of the country. Thanks, Leslie, for the tip.

The candidate of uncertain name, parentage, and origin and with certain Marxist leanings declares about Terri Schiavo.

From the Dakota Voice...

............................

Barack Obama says his biggest mistake was to vote to help Terri Schiavo avoid being starved and dehydrated to death, according to LifeSiteNews.

"It wasn't something I was comfortable with, but it was not something that I stood on the floor and stopped. And I think that was a mistake," Obama said at the debate. "And as a constitutional law professor, I knew better ... and I think that's an example of inaction, and sometimes that can be as costly as action."

Obama was referring to his vote in March 2005, when the Senate passed a bill by unanimous consent that permitted Schiavo's parents and brother to make their case before federal courts to keep their brain-injured daughter alive via feeding tube. Terri Schiavo's husband Michael, who had guardianship over her while engaged in public adultery with a girlfriend, had a state judge remove her feeding tube, dehydrating her to death, because he claimed she never wanted to live in a so-called persistent vegetative state (PVS).

Seems pretty outrageous that anyone, much less a presidential candidate, would say voting to help keep a disabled woman alive, helping her avoid the death by starvation and dehydration her husband (who was living with another woman and fathering children by the other woman) was determined to subject her to.

But then, this is par for the course for a man who vehemently refused to protect the lives of infants born alive after failed attempts to abort them.

It's also in character for a man who has pledged to torpedo the sanctity of marriage and undermine the American family.

And it's also not a surprise from someone who would go on video and pledge to gut the United States military.

How can any sane American even consider voting for Barack Obama?

I'm not big into prophetic predictions of judgment and such, but I don't see how, if the majority of Americans elects Barack Obama to the presidency, this nation can escape judgment on a truly Biblical scale.

On this day as I rail against the critter even more, cpforlife.org has a thread on this Obama Nation and Terri. All are urged to check out this thread. Thanks, narses, for the ping.

...............................

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 28, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Barack Obama, the young, dynamic contender for the US Democratic presidential nomination, is continuing to send strong signals to members of his party that he is the strongest anti-life candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

At the last Democratic debate before the March 4 primary showdown in Texas and Ohio that could effectively decide the Democratic nominee, both Sen. Hillary Clinton - a fierce abortion supporter who is aspiring to be the first female president of the United States - and Sen. Obama - who is vying to be the first black US president - were asked which votes they would take back in their senatorial careers. Clinton cited her vote for the Iraq war; Obama said his vote for Terri Schiavo.

“It wasn't something I was comfortable with, but it was not something that I stood on the floor and stopped. And I think that was a mistake,” Obama said at the debate. “And as a constitutional law professor, I knew better ... and I think that's an example of inaction, and sometimes that can be as costly as action.”.......

Hospice has developed a good reputation for providing compassionate care for dying patients. A key principle of this care is: hospice neither artificially prolongs life nor hastens death.

Unfortunately, this principle is no longer consistently followed in hospice care (as discussed in the previous article in this series). This lack of consistency requires a “buyer beware” attitude when evaluating which hospice might be appropriate to provide truly compassionate end-of-life care............

How does a government choose who can live and who must die? Thread by wagglebee.

............................

The Queen no longer sends telegrams to people on their 100th birthday - it's cards these days, and at the present rate it won't be long before she's just about keeping the Post Office in business.

Some of the people who reach that age - or even mere chicks of 80 and 90 - lead vigorous and fulfilling lives. But an awful lot don't, so it's small wonder that the question of how they should live comes up more and more...........

One more thread today about this greatest threat to America I can imagine at the moment...

Thread by coffee260

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It seems like Barack Obama’s heated answer about The Born Alive Infant Protection Act is making some headlines out there. The Brody File has decided to break out this clip of video by itself rather than having you sit through the whole 5 minute interview. The transcription is below. Clearly, the conversation over this bill has gotten Obama riled up. He truly believes The National Life to Right Committee is lying about this controversial infanticide bill which he opposed. He is adamant in saying that the bill he opposed in the Illinois State Senate was NOT the same as the federal legislation that pro-choice Senators even voted for. The National Right to Life Committee is pointing to a document that shows how Obama voted against a bill that had the federal language in it so they say Obama is misleading people because of past conflicting stories. The Obama campaign says the Illinois bill had added language that would have watered down Roe. The whole thing can get a little confusing. In future posts we will lay out the arguments on both sides. For now, research it yourself. Just remember, everything you read on the Internet isn’t always true!

Check out this thread by Kaslin and also the post # 5 by Joiseydude. It is once more about Karl Marx's little puppet...

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Its a piece of political conventional wisdom thats been repeated many times: The cover-up is usually worse than the crime. A series of votes by Barack Obama in the Illinois Senate, however, turns that famous statement on its head. As a state legislator, Obama spoke out against, and voted down, a bill that would have explicitly extended legal protections to born-alive premature infants. In other words, he cast a vote against banning infanticide. Making matters worse  if such a thing is possible  the explanation Obama has peddled over the years to justify his vote has recently been exposed as untrue.

Average Americans, many of whom hold complicated views on the issue of abortion, may wonder why such a bill would even be necessary in the first place. Once a child is born, she becomes an independent human being who's entitled to the same rights and legal protections afforded to all citizens, right? Wrong, said State Senator Obama. Earlier this decade, the Born Alive Infant Protection Act was introduced in the Illinois state legislature after a Chicago area nurse named Jill Stanek blew the whistle on a practice she personally witnessed at her hospital. Babies who managed to survive late term abortions were being abandoned in soiled linen closets and left to die.....

Lori and Jon Driscoll of Colorado Springs hold photos of their son, Liam, left, and Annika Pruet of Montana. The heart belonging to Liam, who was taken off life support after seven days, was transplanted into Annika. The girl's life "helps us a lot," Lori Driscoll says. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post )

The hardest decision Lori and Jon Driscoll made was to remove life support from their terminally ill newborn son.

The next decision, they say, was the easiest. Liam's heart would be removed and donated to an infant girl.

There is doubt in the minds of some ethicists and doctors that the transplant procedures used at Children's Hospital for Liam and two other sets of children between 2004 and 2007 satisfied legal and ethical requirements.

The hearts of three severely brain- damaged newborns were removed soon after they first stopped beating, in just over a minute in two of the cases. The widely accepted protocol is five minutes. The Children's Hospital team was studying whether saving these minutes would improve the chances for organ recipients.

The hearts were immediately transplanted into three infants whose brains were healthy but whose hearts were not. The three are all alive and thriving.

Yet critics ask whether those once-still hearts, so quickly restarted in these other children, had really met the legal definition of irreversible cardiac death.

"We don't take organs from the near-dead to save other lives," said Robert Veatch, a Georgetown University bioethicist critical of the procedures.

Belief in hospital's actions

At least two families believe in what Children's Hospital did.

Liam Driscoll was born March 28, 2007, in Colorado Springs to parents expecting a completely normal birth. About the time his head was crowning, the doctor learned the oxygen supply through Liam's umbilical cord had been cut off. A doctor performed an emergency cesarean section to deliver him.

Liam's heart wasn't beating.

"They went through extraordinary measures to resuscitate him. And they did resuscitate him — after 19 minutes," Lori Driscoll said.

Medical personnel rushed Liam to Children's Hospital, where doctors used cutting-edge treatments to try to heal the devastating damage to Liam's oxygen-starved brain. They couldn't.

Jon and Lori spun out the rest of their lives in their minds. They planned how to care for a son with severe cerebral palsy. Jon, now 35, would quit his job so he could stay home with Liam. They would get a smaller house.

Even this downsized dream would vanish.

"He never opened his eyes. He never cried," Jon Driscoll said of his only son. "He never moved except during seizures. He couldn't breathe on his own. I still can't get my head around what happened to my son."

The Driscolls told doctors to remove Liam's life support.

"There was never any hope he could sustain his life on his own," Lori Driscoll said.

Liam and his parents spent the last night of his life together in the hospital. Some apparatus had been removed from their son so they could touch and hold him for the first time.

"Liam was a beautiful little boy," his mother said. "He was active inside me. He moved around a lot. He kicked Jon in the ear once when he was listening to him."

"It was a good kick," Jon said.

"He looked like Jon," Lori said, "except he had my ears that stick out. He had what we call fancy hair, reddish blond.

"He was, and is, everything to us."

Dr. Biagio "Bill" Pietra, head of Children's transplant team, said he is stunned by what he calls the knee-jerk reaction of some ethicists critical of the protocols used in the three transplant cases.

"We felt unequivocally that the donors were dead before we removed their hearts," Pietra said.

Veatch, the Georgetown bioethicist, said the team compromised the dead-donor rule, which requires that a donor's heart, brain or respiratory function must irreversibly cease before any donor organs are harvested.

"They said cardiac function was irreversibly lost and then reversed it," Veatch said of Children's doctors.

Pietra said other teams of physicians cared for these infants and determined they were terminal patients.

"An individual isn't going to survive just because he or she has a good heart," Pietra said.

They had brain damage, he said. Life support was withdrawn. The infants stopped breathing. Their hearts eventually stopped.

Pietra said that brain death is difficult to determine in infants because the neurological tests for it were developed for mature brains. Delays could make a significant difference in organ health and the recipient's outcome, Pietra said.

On April 3, 2007, Annika Pruet received Liam's heart. She was 4 months, 3 days old.

"It helps us a lot"

"When our pager beeped — the first time we ever heard it — our hearts stopped," said her mother, Cam Pruet, 20, of Billings, Mont., recalling the day she was notified of a donor.

Annika, who was near death because her heart was too weak to move oxygen throughout her body, is now a skinny little dynamo who never stops moving.

Three months after Annika received Liam's heart, the Pruets received a letter from the Driscolls.

"They wanted to know about Annika and how she was doing," Cam Pruet said. "I cried. I can never thank them enough."

The families met for the first time in May in Denver.

"There was a little crying at first, but it was very comfortable," Cam Pruet said. "It was like we'd known them our whole lives."

Annika's life comforts the Driscolls.

"It helps us a lot," Lori Driscoll said. "The message we have is that people need to open their hearts and minds to what the gift of organ donation means."

The evidence so overwhelms, in process it unmasks the intent behind. Embryonic Stem Cell Research just doesn't produce any significant result. The continuance of some on the path of continued research simply shows their goal is different, to play gods with human life, not merely to do some good.

Thread by wagglebee.

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Does the path we take require us to take unethical actions? In addressing the issue of destructive embryonic stem cell research (ESCR), how congressional members answer this question matters a great deal if they want to make a compassionate and ethical decision regarding ESCR. Embryonic stem cell research requires the creation of a human embryo — and its destruction — in order to use the cells to do research that may or may not lead to treatments.

Having lost ground on the ethical debate over the appropriateness of ESCR, proponents argue for the ability of ESCR to yield positive results. There’s only one problem: ESCR hasn’t yielded positive results. However, adult stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) are already yielding positive results. Mounting evidence for the effectiveness of adult stem cells iPS have highlighted the reasons to raise the standard for stem cell research. Positive and negative legislative developments reflect this.

At the first major hearing on stem cell research in this Congress, Rep. DeGette announced that she, along with lead co-sponsor Rep. Michael Castle (R-Delaware), plan to introduce a bill which lifts the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Despite the lack of evidence for the need for such a measure, Rep. DeGette states that, in light of all the new stem cell research advancements, this is the best legislative plan of action for Congress to take................

Underwhelming surprise in this thread by wagglebee. Maybe I am only whelmed.

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New York City is proof positive that the "safe sex" message is not generating positive results.

The Big Apple has been at the forefront of providing free or low-cost birth control, but it has not reduced pregnancies or abortions. Chris Slattery, founder of EMC Frontline Pregnancy Centers, says abortion has been higher in New York for four decades. He cites the most recent figures for abortions are "90,000 for the city limits in the last reported year  rates that approach 50 percent of all non-miscarried pregnancies ending in an abortion here.".......

Did I ever give the impression I don't like the presumptive Democrat Candidate?

I have been trying to figure out who the critter really is. It appears he is some combination of the following monikers. Perhaps more abound and I haven't heard them yet. I know about Barry Barack Soetoro Hussein Muhammad Dunham. Growing up with all those aliases, he either has multiple personalities or suffers from I.D.D, Intention Deficit Disorder.

In this thread by cpforlife.org, Phil Dragoo did another fine job of a graphic on this scary critter. See post # 67.

This case shows that so-called futile care theory needs to be seriously discussed on a national level, Brahm said. Some doctors believe that when a patient reaches a certain stage of illness, age or injury, any treatment other than comfort care is futile and should be withheld or withdrawn, even if a patient wants treatment because of deeply held values or a desire to live."

I dunno, but I certainly feel more comfortable when I'm not starving and thirsty. Since when is basic food and drink considered "extraordinary medical treatment"?

1,168
posted on 08/18/2008 5:56:20 AM PDT
by exDemMom
(Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)

New York City is proof positive that the "safe sex" message is not generating positive results.

The Big Apple has been at the forefront of providing free or low-cost birth control, but it has not reduced pregnancies or abortions. Chris Slattery, founder of EMC Frontline Pregnancy Centers, says abortion has been higher in New York for four decades. He cites the most recent figures for abortions are "90,000 for the city limits in the last reported year  rates that approach 50 percent of all non-miscarried pregnancies ending in an abortion here.".......

When I was in high school, a representative from Planned Parenthood came to talk to our biology class.

I remember that she stressed the dangers of various forms of contraceptives. In the case of "safe" contraceptives (condoms, diaphrams), she stressed how unreliable they are. Abortion, OTOH, she told us, is "perfectly safe."

In a long talk (she was there the whole class period), she said nothing but lies and misinformation--even at the age of 15, she didn't sound to me like she was genuinely trying to prevent pregnancy (as she had stated up front); she was selling abortion.

That was in the 70s. If anything, Planned Parenthood's "sex education" has probably become even more dismissive of contraceptives and more adamant on pushing abortion since then. It's not surprising that in a place like NY, with abundant "sex education", the abortion rate is so high.

1,169
posted on 08/18/2008 6:15:20 AM PDT
by exDemMom
(Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)

A couple from Kafr Yasif in the Galilee received the shock of their lives Monday when the wife's miscarried 610-gram fetus, which had been declared dead five hours earlier, was found to be breathing.

Photo: Channel 2

The baby girl, born during the 23rd week of gestation, still has an uncertain future. Hospital spokesman Ziv Farber said that any premature infant of that weight and age had only a 10 percent chance for survival. But five years ago, he added, "we had a baby weighing only 580 grams, and she survived."

The 26-year-old mother and her husband have a five-year-old son at home. When she gave birth after going into premature labor , the doctor on the scene pronounced it dead and it was taken to the morgue.

The father, Ali Majdub, told Channel 2 that his wife realized the child was alive after asking to see her dead daughter one last time.

"When we unwrapped the baby to see her, she realized it was moving. I began screaming and ran with it toward the doctors," he said.

She was then rushed to the neonatal , where doctors are fighting for her life.

"I was in shock," the mother told Channel 2 last night. "I thought I wasn't hearing it right when they said she was still alive."

Dr. Moshe Daniel, the hospital's deputy director, said that in his 35 years as a physician, he had "never heard of such a case. It was like a medical miracle."

The hospital informed the Health Ministry, which will now decide whether to set up an internal or external investigating committee. Daniel speculated that the cooling effect of the morgue slowed the infant's metabolism, causing her oxygen consumption to be very low. There have been rare cases of people who nearly froze under snow "coming back to life," but there have been no reports of babies doing so.

The best we can do is post excerpts from World Net Daily, as Janet Folger really has a powerful commentary on the recent babble from the Obama Nation. (Note: I didn't borrow that term from Jerome Corsi. You saw it first here on Terri Dailies long ago...) Anyway, here is a sampling...

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Obama said he opposed Justice Clarence Thomas because he didn't have enough "experience." Rather ironic for a guy that's served all of 143 days in the U.S. Senate, don't you think?

Then, Obama paraphrased Matthew (25:40): "Whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me." Also ironic considering that Obama has turned his back on the all those who reside in the womb, those living, kicking half-born babies, infants who are completely born, and those disabled and dependent on our help to provide them food and water, the Terri Schiavos of the world. (Obama said his greatest regret was voting with the Senate to give Schiavo water). So much for his interest in protecting the least of these.

When claiming to be a Christian, Obama himself said we should express our faith with more than just words but "deeds." Really? Another verse comes to mind: Mark 7:6:.....

The Democratic National Committee is hoping to drive a rift between John McCain and voters with disabilities.

It's a group whose size is difficult to quantify, but one that both candidates have deemed important enough to devote time to courting.

While McCain and Barack Obama both support the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and a current bill in Congress that would strengthen its implementation, a key selling point for advocates for the disabled, they disagree on the Community Choice Act.

~Snip~

The poll, though, did not ask how this concern compared to more mainstream ones, such as the economy or the war in Iraq, or break down what respondents took the phrase "an issue that impacts disabilities" to mean.

To many it may be funding for research of their own condition or for embryonic stem cell research. Many disability rights activists oppose assisted suicide for the severely disabled, and spoke out against it in the case of Terri Schiavo. ............... .............................

Of all my favorites in the heroism department, Dr. Alveda King ranks near the top. Thread by wagglebee.

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DENVER, August 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On August 25th, Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Auxiliary Bishop of Denver the Most Rev. James Conley and leaders of other Christian denominations will join Dr. Alveda C. King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Director of African American Outreach for the Gospel of Life Ministries for a peaceful prayer vigil in front of the new Planned Parenthood Clinic in Stapleton.

The "Light in the Darkness" vigil, organized by the Denver Archdiocese's Respect Life office and the Office of Black Catholics, will begin at 7:30pm in Martin Luther King Park (E.38th St.), one block from the Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains abortion clinic, and will end with a candlelight procession all around the perimeter of the new clinic...........................

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In the waning days of the Clinton administration, pro-life advocates say FDA officials rushed through approval of the dangerous abortion drug RU 486. A new report claims the agency did not rush the drug through the approval process, even though it has resulted in the deaths of at least 13 women worldwide.....

Women who have had abortions, scientists, and pro-life advocates are joining forces to refute the findings of an American Psychological Association (APA) task force that claims women who have one abortion do not experience any more mental problems than women who decide to give birth.

The best scientific evidence published indicates that among adult women who have an unplanned pregnancy, the relative risk of mental health problems is no greater if they have a single elective first-trimester abortion or deliver the pregnancy, said Brenda Mayor, lead psychologist on the APA task force, in a press release about the report, which was released last week.....

SPRINGFIELD - An Oct. 1 competency hearing has been set here for the girl who was at the center of a storm of controversy and concern after she was hospitalized at age 11 with a serious head injury.

After Haleigh Poutre was brought to Noble Hospital Sept. 11, 2005, with a severe head injury, her adoptive mother and stepfather were charged with abuse. The state Department of Social Services at one point sought to have a feeding tube that was keeping her alive removed, saying the girl had no brain function. In February it was reported she had recovered enough to possibly testify in the criminal case.

Hampden Superior Court Judge Judd J. Carhart on Tuesday set the date for a competency hearing for Haleigh as requested by the lawyer for her stepfather, Jason D. Strickland.

~Snip~

In February, defense lawyer Alan J. Black said in a motion he filed that he had been told Haleigh had recovered to the point that she could testify against Strickland, 34. He immediately began raising issues of her competency to Carhart, who is specially assigned to the criminal case.

Black said he has not been allowed to see the girl by the state Department of Social Services, which has custody of Haleigh, nor the Franciscan Hospital for Children in Boston where Haleigh is hospitalized.

He said he has an expert reviewing Haleigh's medical records. "My expert would like to have access to the victim," he said.

In order to have Haleigh in Carhart's courtroom here for a competency hearing, Black will give her notice to appear, he said.

The Democrat Party, (I should say "democratic"..., friends tell me.) O.K., the democratics are a providing a nice illustration/example of the meaning of the word, "quandary" to the pool of world knowledge. Who says killing the unwanted is an easy job? Who would even want to be in their platform shoes?

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The Democratic Party is busy digging itself into a hole that will be difficult to climb out of. The party’s official platform has always called for American taxpayers to fund abortion along the lines laid out in Roe v. Wade. In other words, the party wants money withheld from your paycheck transferred to businesses that perform abortion on-demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy.

The new platform still calls for that: “The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right,” it says.

But now it adds another thought: “The Democratic Party also strongly supports a woman’s decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre- and post-natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs.”

The natural question arises: Why do you strongly support a woman’s decision to have a child? If the answer is, “Because that’s a legitimate right of hers, and a woman does a noble thing when she keeps her child,” then a follow-up question is in order.

If you believe that a pregnant woman is carrying a child, what makes it okay for some women to kill theirs?

In fact, the new language, by admitting that women are carrying children, actually makes the party look worse.

~Snip~

Barack Obama started out deciding that unborn children didn’t have the right to life, and it wasn’t long before he added “accidental” newborns to his list. Next came the unwanted wife, Terri Schiavo. The Senate tried to save her when a court allowed her husband to starve her to death in the hospital. Obama called the Senate’s attempt a mistake.

Once you say that some people don’t have a right to life, where do you stop?

Some perceive a quandary on the other side of the house, as if there really is an other side, and bemoan the Republican Party just not being moderate enough to attract the milquetoasts of the country. They may even find the opinion from Emory abrasive.

...........................

"The Republicans' difficulty is they have a small-government philosophy and they use the rhetoric of limited government, but when they become the majority party, it's very difficult to hold to that philosophy," said Emory University political scientist Merle Black, who has written extensively on the party.

Republicans face philosophical dilemmas elsewhere, too. For years, social conservatives provided a bulwark of votes and energy, driving the party's opposition to abortion, gay marriage and flag desecration. But many moderate voters felt the party went too far, especially when GOP leaders tried to prevent the husband of Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman in a persistent vegetative state, from allowing her to die in 2005......

Over time we have covered the expansion of the "Living Will" industry in the hiatus following the death of Terri. Many have sought to sell it as a cure-all for any facing a similar fate, but we learned it is not that simple and can be a risky business. Alternatives to that permission slip can be found and we post sources from time to time like sources of Advance Directives from Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation...

Daniel T. Zanoza has a thread on this topic. Thanks, narses, for the ping.

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The signs of confusion are pervasive and troubling. My legal clients ask, Should I carry my Living Will with me, in case Im in an accident while traveling? A major newspaper story laments that too often Living Wills arent available when decisions about life support must be made. Retirement community residents are directed to keep Living Wills taped to their refrigerators, for quick and easy access. Credible stories are told of first responders and emergency room personnel withholding care from patients with Living Wills.

It is a relief that he hasn't chosen either Tom Ridge, Curly, Moe, or Larry, so far...

Thread by wagglebee.

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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- John McCain has reportedly confirmed he will not be picking a running mate who takes a pro-abortion position and has ruled out former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who media outlets promoted as a possibility. McCain aides told Republican Party officials of the decision and they confirmed it to Fox News.

The aides and officials indicated that McCain got the message from pro-life advocates that picking an abortion advocate like Ridge was non-negotiable and could cost him votes.....

Olympia, WA (LifeNews.com) -- A leading euthanasia opponent says the pro-life, medical and disability rights communities need to get engaged in the battle against a state measure that could legalize assisted suicide in Washington. If they wait any later to get energized, Alex Schadenberg says it may be too late.

Schadenberg heads up the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and the says the I-1,000 measure to make the state to second in the country to legalize assisted suicide is one of the most important votes this election cycle....

This one struck me right in the gag reflex. Has the whole of the left coast gone mad?? Thread by wagglebee.

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SAN FRANCISCO, August 19, 2008 (LifeSIteNews.com) - A lesbian woman in California has won a law suit in which she claims doctors at a fertility clinic discriminated against her based on her sexual orientation.

In a 7-0 decision yesterday, the California Supreme Court ruled that religious beliefs do not excuse doctors from the state's anti-discrimination law, which "imposes on business establishments certain antidiscrimination obligations."

"The 1st Amendment's right to the free exercise of religion does not exempt defendant physicians here from conforming their conduct to the . . . antidiscrimination requirements, even if compliance poses an incidental conflict with the defendants' religious beliefs," wrote Justice Joyce L. Kennard in the 18-page decision.

Last month, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Raymond Burke, formerly the Archbishop of St. Louis, as the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, which is the highest judicial authority of the Catholic Church besides the Pope himself. In an interview published in the current edition of the Italian magazine Radici Cristiane, Archbishop Burke addresses the issue which has caused great controversy among the hierarchy in the West.

In the interview, parts of which were translated by Catholic News Agency, the Archbishop noted first that pro-abortion Catholic politicians should be publicly corrected and told not to receive: and, if they persist, they should be denied. He spoke of dealing with "public officials" who contravene Divine and Eternal law such as "if they support abortion, which entails the taking of innocent and defenseless human lives."

"A person who commits sin in this way should be publicly admonished in such a way as to not receive Communion until he or she has reformed his life," the archbishop said. "If a person who has been admonished persists in public mortal sin and attempts to receive Communion, the minister of the Eucharist has the obligation to deny it to him. Why? Above all, for the salvation of that person, preventing him from committing a sacrilege," he added....

REMINDER: One of the biggest FR threads began in August of 2003 for Terri Schiavo when Judge Greer told Jeb Bush (Pontius Pilate) to take a hike so he could keep killing her on Mikey’s timetable. It’s on my links page if you’re interested. I think one of us should re=post that link. It was HUGH. Seriesly.

We have a very close friend, a young traditional priest from Italy. I have seen him deny communion for cause. It is over in a flash, hardly noticeable to anyone not alerted by the reddened face of the recipient who was passed by. The person knows, the priest and server know, and few others as after all their minds would be absorbed in the event, not in watching the others.

In the Tradition, it is only the priest who distributes and he puts it on their tongue, not in their hands, and moves at a rhythm that passes them by so quickly it is hard to spot.

This look at PVS comes from an article in Evolution News & Views. It is a lengthy read and a scholarly one.

......................................

This is the first in a series of posts in which I will discuss the medical and ethical aspects of persistent vegetative state (PVS). As I noted in an earlier post, I believe that the emergence of PVS as an accepted medical diagnosis is in part a consequence of the emergence of strict materialistic theories of the mind in the late 20th century, especially the theory called "functionalism," which is the theory that the mind is what the brain does, in the same way that running a program is what a computer does. If the mind is entirely caused by the brain, in a way analogous to the running of a software program on a computer's hardware, it stands to reason that there would be situations in which damage to the brain would cause the "mind program" to irreversibly crash. This leads to rather obvious ethical implications. Ideas have consequences, and the materialist understanding of the mind has had direct and disturbing consequences for the medical treatment of people handicapped by severe brain injuries. I will explore this connection between philosophy of the mind and clinical medicine in a future post.

PVS came to wide public attention with the death in 2005 by dehydration and starvation of Terri Schiavo, a young woman with severe brain damage caused by a cardiac arrest (probably from an electrolyte imbalance) in 1990. She died because her feeding tube was removed by court order at the request of her husband, who claimed that she had told him that she would have wanted to be deprived of nourishment under these circumstances. The deprivation of water and nourishment to a handicapped person, even with the pretext of accommodating that person's wishes, obviously raises ethical issues, and I'll discuss them in future posts. I'll address primarily the medical and neurological issues in this post.

~Snip~

The closer one examines the diagnostic issues involved in PVS, the more clear it is that PVS is in many ways a problematic diagnosis. The diagnosis of PVS relies entirely on the patient's ability to communicate internal mental states to the examining neurologist. Yet severe brain damage intrinsically limits the patient's ability to move and speak. Patients in whom the diagnosis of PVS is made are precisely those people in whom the assessment of mental state is most unreliable.

Furthermore, PVS is the only medical diagnosis that, by denying that the patient has a mind, denies the personhood of the patient. Thankfully, many people in PVS are still treated with respect as persons by their families and caregivers, but that respect is conferred despite, not because of, the diagnosis of PVS.

My interlocutor on this topic, Yale neurologist Steven Novella, has posted several essays in defense of what was done to Terri Schiavo. I'll address the issues he raised, such as the reliability of the diagnosis of PVS as well as Ms. Schiavo's autopsy findings and the ethical implications of the deprivation of food and water to people diagnosed with PVS in my next several posts.

I snipped this from an article about the upcoming proceedings by Buffy Spencer in "The Republican". Buffy Spencer has been following the plight of Haleigh Poutre closely.

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Carhart accepted the proposal of Joseph A. Franco, who was appointed last month by Carhart to represent Haleigh's privacy rights, that the defense and prosecution can have all her medical records from about 15 providers from 1999 to the present.

All of those providers had been given notice of the hearing, but only representatives from three attended. There was no representative from Baystate Health System or the state Department of Social Services. Haleigh was taken to Baystate Medical Center after her initial hospitalization in Westfield.

The sensitive nature of the case showed in the specific parameters set by Carhart for who can see the records. Carhart denied Brandt's request to have a Westfield detective and a state police trooper see them.

~Snip~

Black said he would still like to argue his motion to change the venue.

Black said he is also requesting state Department of Social Services records for Samantha Poutre, 12, the child of Holly A. Strickland and Jonathan R. Poutre, whom she divorced before marrying Strickland.

"She's going to be a key witness in this case," he said. He said allegations of abuse of Samantha Poutre "popped up" about three months ago.

Brandt said that Jonathan R. Poutre had been given notice of Tuesday's hearing, which included the matter of Samantha's records. "He should be here today," Carhart said.

THERE'S A MODERN FABLE written by Maurice Sendak in which an apathetic child named Pierre answers every question with the phrase, "I don't care." Eventually, Pierre responds that way when a hungry lion warns that he is about to eat him, and the young boy is promptly swallowed whole.

~Snip~

This should also be a concern for social conservatives. If government is the leading, or perhaps eventually the sole purchaser of health care, the state will be in the position of deciding who gets what kind of care--this is precisely how government-run systems control costs. The Terri Schiavo case was just a harbinger of the tragic scenarios that are likely to arise in the coming decades with the development of life-preserving technologies. It is quite easy to see how government control of the health-care system would put lawmakers in the awkward position of deciding who lives and dies in such situations by determining how long to pay the bills before pulling the plug...................

Learning the looney left lexicon, one can perceive the idiotic thought process that passes as logic. Who but another goofy liberal could swallow this pattern and accept it? We have seen how propaganda suggests that decent Americans wanted innocents like Terri dead and abhorred any who would wish her life to continue. Here it is a step even further in suggesting that support is "extreme", radical.

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Other reasons Lohmer might want to obfuscate her ties to Michele Bachman are Bachmans extreme religious objectives. Will Lohmer adhere to the radical right with a Minnesota version (ala Matt Dean) of the Terri Schiavo forced feeding/artificial life support tragedy? Will Lohmer advocate for a Dover, Pennsylvania School Board religious right that illegally sought to teach Intelligent Design/Creationism in their childrens science classrooms? Will Lohmer continue the divisive hoopla about gays destroying the institution of marriage? Will Lohmer follow Bachmann opposing stem cell research?...............

DENVER, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Colorado Right to Life and American Right to Life will stand with black leaders from around the country at their Power in the Park rally and press conference on August 25, 2008, 8:30 am at Martin Luther King Park, one block from the largest Planned Parenthood abortuary in the nation.

The killing center, dubbed Auschwitz, by local opponents of the racist organization, is situated in north Denver’s minority neighborhood - consistent with the patterns of targeting minorities noted by Blackgenocide.org. Speakers include presidential candidate Dr. Alan Keyes with America’s Independent Party, Jessie Lee Peterson, president of BOND, Rev Clenard Childress of Blackgenocide.org, Flip Benham of Operation Rescue National, and Denver’s Bishop Phillip Porter, former chairman of Promise Keepers, who will expose the tragedy that although black women comprise 6% of the population, they receive nearly 40% of the abortions in America. The leading abortion providers exploit blacks by placing 94% of abortuaries in urban neighborhoods with high black populations........................

WASHINGTON, August 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Fox News had many American moral conservatives very pleased yesterday with a report from unnamed Republican National Committee officials that "senior McCain advisers and aides have told GOP officials that McCain 'got the message' last week that choosing a running mate who supports abortion rights would not be helpful." The news came in reaction to an uproar from the Republican base after Senator John McCain floated the possibility of pro-abortion Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge as a potential running mate last week.

The message from the conservative base of the Party was voiced plainly by famed radio pundit Rush Limbaugh in his signature commentary yesterday. In a blast titled, "Choose Wisely, Senator McCain", Limbaugh pointed out that leftist pundits were promoting a pro-abortion pick for McCain knowing that it would lead to certain defeat as McCain would be abandoned by his base.

"They're just hoping for it because they know it's not just a few loudmouths in the base. They know the base will totally turn on McCain if this is the case," said Limbaugh. "It's about finding a way to persuade McCain to make a decision that will guarantee his defeat."...

Oh, who of the democratics is the most cold blooded killer! Tough choice for those who favor choice.

Thread by wagglebee.

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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The wealthiest pro-abortion group in the country has flip-flopped on whether pro-abortion presidential candidate Barack Obama can attract women voters to his campaign. Emily's List founder Ellen Malcolm said, during the Democratic Party primary, that wasn't possible. Now, she's changed her tune.

During the height of the Democratic primary in April, Malcolm wasn't so sure whether Obama had the capacity to match Hillary Clinton, whom her group endorsed, in terms of reaching women.

"I don't think we can answer that at this point," she said at the time. "I think one of the unanswered questions going forward in the primaries is whether or not Sen. Obama can close the deal with these voters." nat3865.html...

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